The battle for Mosul has been made all the more difficult by the fact a million or more people are still inside Iraq’s second largest city, which is ISIL’s last stronghold in the country.

CCTV’s Jack Barton reports.

Residents near Mosul flee to Iraqi forces

Residents near Mosul flee to Iraqi forces

The battle for Mosul has been made all the more difficult by the fact a million or more people are still inside Iraq's second largest city, which is ISIL's last stronghold in the country. CCTV's Jack Barton reports.

Waving a white flag, Mosul residents make their way slowly through the city streets toward an Iraqi Special Forces position.

The fighting is still fluid – a neighborhood in the army’s hands one hour could be back in ISIL’s the next.

People just away from the fighting are fleeing on foot to make it to the safety of the camps just outside the city, and just behind, you can see an armored Humvee that was hit by one of ISIL’s suicide bomb.

The people of Mosul are caught in the crossfire.

“We don’t shoot everything because we care about civilians and all families, so it’s so big mistake for us if we hit a kid or something like that so it’s so difficult war here in Mosul because a lot of civilians here,” said Private Ahmed of ISOF.

Special Forces are responsible for bringing displaced people that they find in their houses to this area. They are questioned because of course the suspicion is that there may be some ISIL members still among the people trying to flee, but when they are cleared, they travel on from here on foot to the city outskirts where they are then picked up in convoys and taken to the camps.

It’s a terrifying journey only a few dare to make. People are happy to talk, but only with their faces hidden.